La Vida Chilena

First things first! I flew out of Los Angeles, CA at noon on Monday
and arrived in Santiago, Chile on Tuesday morning, therefore accomplishing goal
#025: Visit another continent.
It has been one HECK of a few days! I have been taking some pictures 

and thought you might like to see how my trip to Chile has gone so far :)

Since my program didn't officially start until today,
 a few friends and I stayed in a hostel last night.

 
 

We met soo many people (some from UCSB, some from other UC's,
and even from other countries!) and had so much fun getting to know one another 

and playing with the hostel's pet guinea pig, named Lucy.




 We grabbed lunch at a random café (there are so many here) but we were not at all
satisfied with our meal :( After going home to nap, we resolved to go out later that night,
get ourselves a real dinner, and celebrate our arrival in this city with some drinks! 

We went out to Bella Vista, which is a beautiful area of the city with tons of bars and 

restaurants. We ended up eating at a restaraunt called "Como Agua Para Chocolate"

 (we chose it because it is named after a popular US book! Which is now on my to-read list...). 

At that restaurant I had what I would consider to be one of the best meals EVER. 

We drank Pisco Sours (a popular Chilean drink comprised of brandy & mango juice.

Sounds weird but it is so sweet and soo yummy!) and shared a bottle of wine at the table. 

I didn't bring my camera out, but my friend Lara took a few pictures!

 

Today I went with the other students in my program to
 La Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (which happens to be the university
 I will be attending here) to meet our host families.


 


I was really nervous to meet my family, but they turned out to be so great!
I am living with a woman named Enriqueta (Keti for short) who totally reminds me of my nana,
 her son Pablo who is an assistant professor at the Universidad de Chile, and two other girls
whom are both studying abroad (one from Illinois and the other from S. Carolina).
I also have my own room, which resembles a college dorm!

While Tuesday was spent mingling with other travelers and, obviously, speaking english,
on Wednesday I spoke almost entirely in spanish. I mess up a lot, but my host family
is very helpful. I can't believe all of the subjects we exhausted! My ability
to communicate in spanish really surprises me! This means I accomplished goal
#046. Have a conversation in Spanish




I spent the day getting to know my new host family,
eating great food that Enriqueta prepared, and walking around the city.
Santiago is HUGE. The narrow cobblestone roads and beautiful architecture
are something you might see in Europe. The graffiti (sometimes beautiful artwork,
other times political rants), the litter, and the neglect of many of the buildings
remind me of something you might see in East LA or Hollywood. And the energy,
the street vendors, and the metropolitan atmosphere are definitely features
that remind me of New York. I happened to notice that there are TONS
of stray dogs in the city. What is weird is they don't bother people at all --
they just go about their own business and wander around, chasing cars. Strange...
Overall, a very intricate city. I am excited to continue exploring!




 



 

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